Sonoma

Authorities Say MLK Day Is the Perfect Time to Get Rid of Your Gun

If you missed San Francisco's gun buy back last month, here's another opportunity for you to quit your firearms. Marin is hosting its own gun buy-back event, extending the invitation to residents in San Francisco, Contra Costa, and Sonoma counties. So cancel your plans to hit the shooting range on ... More >>

Drink of the Week: Know Your Sparkling Wine

The end of the year brings many things: family, parties, and lots of sparkling wine. While we love cocktails, it's this time of year we simply give in to any and all excuses for bubbly. It's like wine that got bedazzled. While our mental image of sparkling wine mostly stays fixed on Champagne, the ... More >>

Bay Area Artisan Pickles and Jams Keep Summer Alive

As more consumers move to local, seasonal produce from the farmers market or CSA's they often face a challenging question, "What do I do with all of this good stuff"? And long before the invention of freezers, the answer was pickling and preserving. Pickles, preserves and jams are often the best way ... More >>

Drink of the Week: Sidewinder's Fang at Spoonbar

Without a doubt, the carbonated cocktail is here. While there is no doubt that soon -- very soon -- we'll see the technique get pushed to some dreadful places, for the moment, this method is adding some fun twists to classic drinks. At Spoonbar in Sonoma, bar manager Cappy Sorentino has been carbon ... More >>

5 Summer Food Fests Worth The Drive

Okay, so you slept on the Castroville Artichoke Festival. Don't worry, there are still some fantastic food festivals left to tackle this summer in the greater Bay Area. Every road trip should be planned around good food, but why not plan a day trip where eating the best produce from the region that ... More >>

Friday: Uber Delivers On-Demand Ice Cream

You might have previously used Uber, which bills itself as "San Francisco's only on-demand black car service," for a stylish ride home after a drunken night out, but the app-driven company is offering a much sweeter proposition from noon to 6 p.m. this Friday (July 13): On-demand ice cream. That da ... More >>

Ecco Coffee's Potrero Hill Cafe Finally To Open ... Some Day

Almost two years ago Sonoma's Ecco Coffee was seemingly about to explode onto the streets of San Francisco. Chicago coffee giant Intelligentsia had announced an acquisition of the little company started by Andrew Barnett in 2006, and word was that Ecco was looking to open up a roaster and cafe in th ... More >>

Celebrate Spring With Il Cane Rosso's Organic Pop-Up Dinner

​ What: Le Dîner Du Printemp (Dinner of Spring) Where: Galette 88 When: Fri., April 6, 6 p.m. or 8 p.m. Cost: $40 for four-course dinner and $25 for wine pairing The rundown: Spring has sprung and Il Cane Rosso chef and co-owner Lauren Kiino is partnering with french creperie Galette 88 for ... More >>

Top 5 Reasons Lady Gaga Should Move to the Bay Area

Though she was born in New York City, recent news suggests Lady Gaga might be considering a move to the Bay Area. At the end of last month, Gaga was spotted hitting the rounds of fancy restaurants in Sonoma, and (those infallible) British tabloids now claim the 25-year-old pop star is thinking about ... More >>

Who's Serving Foie Gras? Palio d'Asti, Le Charm, and BayWolf

​Counting down the meals before July 1, when California's foie gras ban takes effect. At Palio d'Asti, which weathered its first anti-foie protest on Valentine's Day, chef Daniel Scherotter serves an appetizer of hazelnut-encrusted seared Sonoma foie gras with balsamic glazed cippolini onions an ... More >>

Foie Gras Countdown, Week 2: Eat at La Folie, Ana Mandara, and Txoko

johnnymd314/FlickrSeared foie gras and foie gras soup, a past preparation from La Folie.​Counting down the days before July 1, when California's foie gras ban takes effect. Three more restaurants where you can eat foie gras this week: La Folie offers two foie gras preparations as part of its thr ... More >>

ZAP: New Location and a New Food and Wine Pairing Event

​ We go to a lot of wine tastings: trade, consumer, best-of, pre-auction, single-appellation super-regional. They can be a great way to train the palate, but over time they're tiring to foot and tongue. So, we've resolved to focus only on the ones that have shined over time, the ones where your ... More >>

The Foie Gras Ban Countdown Begins

Calvin W./YelpA foie gras gyoza from Alexander's Steakhouse.​You have five and a half months left to eat foie gras. Back in 2004, Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law SF-1520, which banned the sale and production of foie gras. The law was simultaneously hailed and condemned by animal rights gr ... More >>

San Francisco's Table Scraps Make Healthier Wines

Allan Henderson via Flickr ... tastes like fine wine ​San Francisco residents may have groaned when the city passed mandatory composting laws in 2009, but now they might be sighing in relaxation as they sip wines grown on soil enriched with their city-mandated table scraps. A record amount of San ... More >>

The Great American Beer Festival: Bay Area Brewers and Chefs Bring the Brew

In 1982, the inaugural Great American Beer Festival showcased 47 beers from 24 breweries. The lucky 800 attendees had a fair shot at trying every beer in the room. Thirty years later, even the most hardened liver shudders in fear of how the festival has grown. With 466 breweries pouring 2,400 beers ... More >>

Music Links: Secret Alley Show This Weekend, a Chat with Bob Mould, and More

via The Owl MagShepard Fairey and Bob Mould in conversation.​ There's a special show at the Secret Alley this weekend featuring local bands Lilac, Melted Toys, Talk Normal, and a special guest. Who is it? A good local band that's getting attention from around the world. [The Bay Bridged] Anot ... More >>

Comprehensive Guide to CSAs in San Francisco: Meat, Eggs, Dairy, Etc.

A CSA meat package from Marin Sun Farms​Many people tend to think of CSAs only for fruits and vegetables, but in the Bay Area we're also blessed with a variety of meatier options. We've done the work of finding the farmers; now all you have to do is place your order and start up the grill. In ... More >>

Sizzle & Fizzle: Highs and Lows from the Last Week in S.F. Music

Twenty-Five Lusk Serves 6-Course Champagne/Strawberry Menu

Seared diver scallop with foie gras torchon and grilled strawberries​SFoodie is willing to put ourselves on the line for you. So when we heard Twenty-Five Lusk is offering a 6-course Champagne and strawberry themed menu for $90 -- $60 food, $30 wine pairings -- through Blackboard Eats, we ran ... More >>

Sonoma Councilwoman Wants to Ban Pit Bulls -- and Other Aggressive Dogs

Sonoma vs. Pit bulls ​Taking a page out of San Francisco's playbook of citywide bans, Sonoma's City Council is considering outlawing pit bulls after last week's fatal attack of a Pacifica pregnant woman.City Councilwoman Joanne Sanders says she'll ask the full council to ban the pups and other vic ... More >>

Summer Guide: Bay Area Summer Food Festivals

Sonoma Report: Russian River's Belgian Flight, Iron Horse's Food Truck Fridays

Jonathan KauffmanRussian River Brewing's Belgian-style beer sampler, $8.​ A few of my vacation days last week were spent rambling around Sonoma, passing from the beer world to the wine world and back again. The difference between the two connoisseur cultures always cracks me up: the Springsteen-pl ... More >>

Drink 2011: Brewers Join Forces -- Beer Ensues

Ex-Gather Sous Chef Rolls Out Boffo Cart

Tamara Palmer​We spotted Boffo Cart at the weekly farmers' market at Emeryville's City Hall (Thu., noon-7 p.m.). The tent, named after a 1940s superlative, was selling salads, piadini, panini, and calzones. We ordered the latter ($6) and received something the size of a kid's softball mitt stu ... More >>

Alleged Edwin Ramos Murders Haunt Sonoma Pro-Sanctuary City Candidate

Edwin Ramos, the man who killed sanctuary cities​ The 2008 slaying of an Excelsior District man and his two sons in San Francisco, allegedly by an illegal immigrant, roiled ill will towards the city's sanctuary city status. But now the murders are being held against a candidate for the Board of Su ... More >>

Wayfare Tavern's Hangtown Fry

John BirdsallHangtown Fry ($18). Yeah, we totally got it to go ― you try getting a seat here at lunch.​Wednesday, August 4, 2010 Maybe it's because Tyler Florence is so accustomed to playing to a national audience on Food Network that six-week-old Wayfare Tavern feels so regionally nonspec ... More >>

Spire Opens for Lunch, Transylvanian Goulash Is Spotted at Lokal

​The last 24 hours in rumor, innuendo, and straight-out facts about restaurant openings and closings in San Francisco.Tamara P., guest blogging at Eater, announced that Wednesday was opening day for Spire (685 Third St., 947-0000, www.spiresf.com). To celebrate, Grub Street posted the lunch menu ... More >>

Starchefs.com Names Its 2010 Rising Stars

SPQR's Matthew Accarrino is on the rise.​Starchefs.com just named the 14 winners of its 2010 "Rising Stars" Awards for the San Francisco Bay Area. The touring awards, which recognize chefs, bartenders (unfortunately titled "mixologists"), and restaurateurs under the age of 40, is always an interes ... More >>

Sour Cream and Onion Potatoes from Bar Agricole's Brandon Jew

Mary LaddBrandon Jew.​Brandon Jew's Sour Cream and Onion Potatoes Serves 2 "I like serving these potatoes with grilled duck breast," says Jew, chef at Bar Agricole, due for SOMA in late spring or early summer. "But they are delicious by themselves too." Check out our Q&A with the chef here, a ... More >>

Pair of Decorated Police Horses Head Out To Pasture -- Equine Who Killed Man at 49ers Game Still Working, Incidentally

Starting tomorrow, it'll be all carrots and no sticks for Kenny and Chip. The pair of longtime San Francisco police horses will be retired in a Tuesday morning ceremony at the Golden Gate Park stables, curtailing a combined 22 years of police work for the pair of horses -- in which, unlike their hum ... More >>

Eat This Book

State Unemployment Numbers Are In: S.F. Situation Upgraded From 'Shitty' to 'Crappy'

James Duncan DavidsonA sign of the times...The State Employment Development Department today released its monthly accounting of where the state's employment handbasket is in its journey toward hell. And it's a good news-bad news situation akin to: "We've got fresh vegetables -- but we're serving the ... More >>

Drink of The Week: Nana Mae's Baba-Chai

Nana Mae's Organics of Sonoma has created a most unusual take on chai that has no tea whatsoever, only the spice blend associated with the traditional beverage. In place of the tea is a blend of apple and pear juice with honey and apple cider vinegar. Drinking vinegary beverages is often either a cu ... More >>

Julio Cesar Morales re-enacts the birth of California

Download Festival, Coldplay, Zine Fest and Tour de Fat: Your Monday Morning Hangover

Hang On to Your Nuts: Spay/Neuter Pit Bulls For Free

Sens and Sensibility

Exotic Southern Mediterranean fare with a point of view and a sea view

Repertory Film Listings

Holiday Gift Guide

Holiday Gift Guide

Horse Pay

An enterprising volunteer gives Sonoma State University a unique solution to its athletics-funding problem: a stable of thoroughbreds

Cultural Events

What the Hell Is Copia?

At Robert Mondavi's new $55 million foodie mecca, you'll find seminars on goat cheese and mustard; surrealist movies; a SPAM exhibit; wine tastings; figurines of pooping Catholics -- everything, in fact, but the answer to that question.

North Beach

All in la Famiglia

Beginnings and Endings

Pinocchio

Style Over Substance

OakTown Cafe

Intergalactic Planetary

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Side Dish

Cool Light Show, A Votre Sante, Late Harvest in the Valley, Butt Ugly Open and Shut, Go for the Gold, and Ciao

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